Manufacturing & The Economy

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. declined 6.7% in March to 104.2, following a 0.2% decrease in February, and a 0.4% increase in January.

“In March, the U.S. LEI registered the largest decline in its 60-year history,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economic research at The Conference Board. “The unprecedented and sudden deterioration was broad based, with the largest negative contributions coming from initial claims for unemployment insurance and stock prices. The sharp drop in the LEI reflects the sudden halting in business activity as a result of the global pandemic and suggests the U.S. economy will be facing a very deep contraction.”